Early-life stress alters chromatin modifications in VTA to prime stress sensitivity.

Early-life stress increases sensitivity to subsequent stress, which has been observed among humans, other animals, at the level of cellular activity, and at the level of gene expression. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying such long-lasting sensitivity are poorly understood. We tested the hypothesis that persistent changes in transcription and transcriptional potential were maintained at the level of the epigenome, through changes in chromatin. We used a combination of bottom-up mass spectrometry, viral-mediated epigenome-editing, behavioral quantification, and RNA-sequencing in a mouse model of early-life stress, focusing on the ventral tegmental area (VTA), a brain region critically implicated in motivation, reward learning, stress response, and mood and drug disorders. We find that early-life stress in mice alters histone dynamics in VTA and that a majority of these modifications are associated with an open chromatin state that would predict active, primed, or poised gene expression, including enriched histone-3 lysine-4 methylation and the H3K4 monomethylase Setd7. Mimicking ELS through over-expression of Setd7 and enrichment of H3K4me1 in VTA recapitulates ELS-induced behavioral and transcriptional hypersensitivity to future stress. These findings enrich our understanding of the epigenetic mechanisms linking early-life environmental experiences to long-term alterations in stress reactivity within the brain's reward circuitry, with implications for understanding and potentially treating mood and anxiety disorders in humans.

Histone H3 serotonylation dynamics in dorsal raphe nucleus contribute to stress- and antidepressant-mediated gene expression and behavior.

Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD), along with related mood disorders, is a debilitating illness that affects millions of individuals worldwide. While chronic stress increases incidence levels of mood disorders, stress-mediated disruptions in brain function that precipitate these illnesses remain elusive. Serotonin-associated antidepressants (ADs) remain the first line of therapy for many with depressive symptoms, yet low remission rates and delays between treatment and symptomatic alleviation have prompted skepticism regarding precise roles for serotonin in the precipitation of mood disorders. Our group recently demonstrated that serotonin epigenetically modifies histone proteins (H3K4me3Q5ser) to regulate transcriptional permissiveness in brain. However, this phenomenon has not yet been explored following stress and/or AD exposures. Methods: We employed a combination of genome-wide and biochemical analyses in dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) of male and female mice exposed to chronic social defeat stress to examine the impact of stress exposures on H3K4me3Q5ser dynamics, as well as associations between the mark and stress-induced gene expression. We additionally assessed stress-induced regulation of H3K4me3Q5ser following AD exposures, and employed viral-mediated gene therapy to reduce H3K4me3Q5ser levels in DRN and examine the impact on stress-associated gene expression and behavior. Results: We found that H3K4me3Q5ser plays important roles in stress-mediated transcriptional plasticity. Chronically stressed mice displayed dysregulated H3K4me3Q5ser dynamics in DRN, with both AD- and viral-mediated disruption of these dynamics proving sufficient to rescue stress-mediated gene expression and behavior. Conclusions: These findings establish a neurotransmission-independent role for serotonin in stress-/AD-associated transcriptional and behavioral plasticity in DRN.

Rescue of deficits by Brwd1 copy number restoration in the Ts65Dn mouse model of Down syndrome.

With an incidence of ~1 in 800 births, Down syndrome (DS) is the most common chromosomal condition linked to intellectual disability worldwide. While the genetic basis of DS has been identified as a triplication of chromosome 21 (HSA21), the genes encoded from HSA21 that directly contribute to cognitive deficits remain incompletely understood. Here, we found that the HSA21-encoded chromatin effector, BRWD1, was upregulated in neurons derived from iPS cells from an individual with Down syndrome and brain of trisomic mice. We showed that selective copy number restoration of Brwd1 in trisomic animals rescued deficits in hippocampal LTP, cognition and gene expression. We demonstrated that Brwd1 tightly binds the BAF chromatin remodeling complex, and that increased Brwd1 expression promotes BAF genomic mistargeting. Importantly, Brwd1 renormalization rescued aberrant BAF localization, along with associated changes in chromatin accessibility and gene expression. These findings establish BRWD1 as a key epigenomic mediator of normal neurodevelopment and an important contributor to DS-related phenotypes.

Chromatin profiling in human neurons reveals aberrant roles for histone acetylation and BET family proteins in schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia (SZ) is a psychiatric disorder with complex genetic risk dictated by interactions between hundreds of risk variants. Epigenetic factors, such as histone posttranslational modifications (PTMs), have been shown to play critical roles in many neurodevelopmental processes, and when perturbed may also contribute to the precipitation of disease. Here, we apply an unbiased proteomics approach to evaluate combinatorial histone PTMs in human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived forebrain neurons from individuals with SZ. We observe hyperacetylation of H2A.Z and H4 in neurons derived from SZ cases, results that were confirmed in postmortem human brain. We demonstrate that the bromodomain and extraterminal (BET) protein, BRD4, is a bona fide 'reader' of H2A.Z acetylation, and further provide evidence that BET family protein inhibition ameliorates transcriptional abnormalities in patient-derived neurons. Thus, treatments aimed at alleviating BET protein interactions with hyperacetylated histones may aid in the prevention or treatment of SZ.

Histone H3Q5 serotonylation stabilizes H3K4 methylation and potentiates its readout.

Serotonylation of glutamine 5 on histone H3 (H3Q5ser) was recently identified as a permissive posttranslational modification that coexists with adjacent lysine 4 trimethylation (H3K4me3). While the resulting dual modification, H3K4me3Q5ser, is enriched at regions of active gene expression in serotonergic neurons, the molecular outcome underlying H3K4me3-H3Q5ser crosstalk remains largely unexplored. Herein, we examine the impact of H3Q5ser on the readers, writers, and erasers of H3K4me3. All tested H3K4me3 readers retain binding to the H3K4me3Q5ser dual modification. Of note, the PHD finger of TAF3 favors H3K4me3Q5ser, and this binding preference is dependent on the Q5ser modification regardless of H3K4 methylation states. While the activity of the H3K4 methyltransferase, MLL1, is unaffected by H3Q5ser, the corresponding H3K4me3/2 erasers, KDM5B/C and LSD1, are profoundly inhibited by the presence of the mark. Collectively, this work suggests that adjacent H3Q5ser potentiates H3K4me3 function by either stabilizing H3K4me3 from dynamic turnover or enhancing its physical readout by downstream effectors, thereby potentially providing a mechanism for fine-tuning critical gene expression programs.

Dopaminylation of histone H3 in ventral tegmental area regulates cocaine seeking.

Vulnerability to relapse during periods of attempted abstinence from cocaine use is hypothesized to result from the rewiring of brain reward circuitries, particularly ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine neurons. How cocaine exposures act on midbrain dopamine neurons to precipitate addiction-relevant changes in gene expression is unclear. We found that histone H3 glutamine 5 dopaminylation (H3Q5dop) plays a critical role in cocaine-induced transcriptional plasticity in the midbrain. Rats undergoing withdrawal from cocaine showed an accumulation of H3Q5dop in the VTA. By reducing H3Q5dop in the VTA during withdrawal, we reversed cocaine-mediated gene expression changes, attenuated dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens, and reduced cocaine-seeking behavior. These findings establish a neurotransmission-independent role for nuclear dopamine in relapse-related transcriptional plasticity in the VTA.

An emerging perspective on 'histone code' mediated regulation of neural plasticity and disease.

The last two decades have witnessed explosive advances in our understanding as to how the organization of chromatin, the association of DNA with histones and vast numbers of non-histone regulatory proteins, controls the expression of specific genes in brain. Prominent among such regulatory mechanisms are modifications of histones, along with the 'writers,' 'erasers,' and 'readers' of these modifications. Much of the work delineating these mechanisms has contributed to the idea that a 'histone code' may be a central determinant of a gene's activity and its potential to be activated or repressed in response to environmental perturbations (both beneficial and aberrant). Indeed, increasing evidence has demonstrated the significance of histone regulation in neurological plasticity and disease, although we are still at the earliest stages of examining all of the many potential chromatin changes involved. In this short review, we provide an emerging perspective on putative roles for histones, and their combinatorial readouts, in the context of neural plasticity, and we provide a conceptual framework for future mechanistic studies aimed at uncovering causal links between the neural 'histone code' and brain function/disease.

Histone serotonylation is a permissive modification that enhances TFIID binding to H3K4me3.

Chemical modifications of histones can mediate diverse DNA-templated processes, including gene transcription1-3. Here we provide evidence for a class of histone post-translational modification, serotonylation of glutamine, which occurs at position 5 (Q5ser) on histone H3 in organisms that produce serotonin (also known as 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)). We demonstrate that tissue transglutaminase 2 can serotonylate histone H3 tri-methylated lysine 4 (H3K4me3)-marked nucleosomes, resulting in the presence of combinatorial H3K4me3Q5ser in vivo. H3K4me3Q5ser displays a ubiquitous pattern of tissue expression in mammals, with enrichment observed in brain and gut, two organ systems responsible for the bulk of 5-HT production. Genome-wide analyses of human serotonergic neurons, developing mouse brain and cultured serotonergic cells indicate that H3K4me3Q5ser nucleosomes are enriched in euchromatin, are sensitive to cellular differentiation and correlate with permissive gene expression, phenomena that are linked to the potentiation of TFIID4-6 interactions with H3K4me3. Cells that ectopically express a H3 mutant that cannot be serotonylated display significantly altered expression of H3K4me3Q5ser-target loci, which leads to deficits in differentiation. Taken together, these data identify a direct role for 5-HT, independent from its contributions to neurotransmission and cellular signalling, in the mediation of permissive gene expression.

Aberrant H3.3 dynamics in NAc promote vulnerability to depressive-like behavior.

Human major depressive disorder (MDD), along with related mood disorders, is among the world's greatest public health concerns; however, its pathophysiology remains poorly understood. Persistent changes in gene expression are known to promote physiological aberrations implicated in MDD. More recently, histone mechanisms affecting cell type- and regional-specific chromatin structures have also been shown to contribute to transcriptional programs related to depressive behaviors, as well as responses to antidepressants. Although much emphasis has been placed in recent years on roles for histone posttranslational modifications and chromatin-remodeling events in the etiology of MDD, it has become increasingly clear that replication-independent histone variants (e.g., H3.3), which differ in primary amino acid sequence from their canonical counterparts, similarly play critical roles in the regulation of activity-dependent neuronal transcription, synaptic connectivity, and behavioral plasticity. Here, we demonstrate a role for increased H3.3 dynamics in the nucleus accumbens (NAc)-a key limbic brain reward region-in the regulation of aberrant social stress-mediated gene expression and the precipitation of depressive-like behaviors in mice. We find that molecular blockade of these dynamics promotes resilience to chronic social stress and results in a partial renormalization of stress-associated transcriptional patterns in the NAc. In sum, our findings establish H3.3 dynamics as a critical, and previously undocumented, regulator of mood and suggest that future therapies aimed at modulating striatal histone dynamics may potentiate beneficial behavioral adaptations to negative emotional stimuli.

Adolescent Risperidone treatment alters protein expression associated with protein trafficking and cellular metabolism in the adult rat prefrontal cortex.

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is associated with mental health illnesses including schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, and autism spectrum disorders. It richly expresses neuroreceptors which are the target for antipsychotics. However, as the precise mechanism of action of antipsychotic medications is not known, proteomic studies of the effects of antipsychotic drugs on the brain are warranted. In the current study, we aimed to characterize protein expression in the adult rodent PFC (n = 5 per group) following low-dose treatment with Risperidone or saline in adolescence (postnatal days 34-47). The PFC was examined by triplicate 1 h runs of label-free LC-MS/MS. The raw mass spectral data were analyzed with the MaxQuant(TM) software. Statistical analysis was carried out using SAS® Version 9.1. Pathway and functional analysis was performed with IngenuityPathway Analysis and in the Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID), respectively, the most implicated pathways were found to be related to mitochondrial function, protein trafficking, and the cytoskeleton. This report adds to the current repertoire of data available concerning the effects of antipsychotic drugs on the brain and sheds light on their biological mechanisms. The MS data have been deposited with the ProteomeXchange Consortium with dataset identifier PXD000480.

Therapeutic concentrations of valproate but not amitriptyline increase neuropeptide Y (NPY) expression in the human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cell line.

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a peptide found in the brain and autonomic nervous system, which is associated with anxiety, depression, epilepsy, learning and memory, sleep, obesity and circadian rhythms. NPY has recently gained much attention as an endogenous antiepileptic and antidepressant agent, as drugs with antiepileptic and/or mood-stabilizing properties may exert their action by increasing NPY concentrations, which in turn can reduce anxiety and depression levels, dampen seizures or increase seizure threshold. We have used human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells to investigate the effect of valproate (VPA) and amitriptyline (AMI) on NPY expression at therapeutic plasma concentrations of 0.6mM and 630nM, respectively. In addition, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) known to differentiate SH-SY5Y cells into a neuronal phenotype and to increase NPY expression through activation of protein kinase C (PKC) was applied as a positive control (16nM). Cell viability after drug treatment was tested with a 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. NPY expression was measured using immunofluorescence and quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR). Results from immunocytochemistry have shown NPY levels to be significantly increased following a 72h but not 24h VPA treatment. A further increase in expression was observed with simultaneous VPA and TPA treatment, suggesting that the two agents may increase NPY expression through different mechanisms. The increase in NPY mRNA by VPA and TPA was confirmed with qRT-PCR after 72h. In contrast, AMI had no effect on NPY expression in SH-SY5Y cells. Together, the data point to an elevation of human NPY mRNA and peptide levels by therapeutic concentrations of VPA following chronic treatment. Thus, upregulation of NPY may have an impact in anti-cancer treatment of neuroblastomas with VPA, and antagonizing hypothalamic NPY effects may help to ameliorate VPA-induced weight gain and obesity without interfering with the desired central effects of VPA.